Disability in Alaska

In many states there does not seem to be that much help sometimes for people who are involved in the disability process and need something to turn to. However, if you are getting disability in Alaska, then there are a host of websites and informative resources available to help you navigate your way through the piles of information and find something that is relevant to what you need. One of the best laid out resources is the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education. If you need to find out some information concerning your disability, then you can just go onto the site and type in your disability into a search engine and it will return a series of excellent programs and results that can benefit you.

Other Helpful Legal Programs and Groups

The Social Security Administration funds and monitors the disability programs in all of the fifty states, but there is also a congressionally funded network of legal advocacy groups which are also available to people in need of assistance. These groups were required in every state and territory after 1975 in response to the outcry that disabled people were being wrongly treated all over the country. If you have a disability in Alaska, then the group you would turn to is the Disability Law Center of Alaska. This group is set up to offer legal assistance to anyone with a disability in Alaska that needs either protection or advocacy for the infringement of a disabled person’s civil, legal, or basic human rights.

Other Things to know about Disability in Alaska

Many people who file for disability the first time around don’t realize what a tedious process the paperwork can actually be. Almost sixty-four percent of those who file for disability the first time around are denied. However, in Alaska the percentage of people who file their initial claims and are accepted, are almost six points higher than the national average. When you look at those who won their cases on reconsideration the national average is only fifteen percent, but in Alaska it’s more than double that figure at thirty-three percent acceptance. This is a significantly larger percentage, which means the advocacy and support groups for people with disabilities are assisting those who are filing for disability in Alaska as well as those who’ve already been accepted.